Innersole for shoes



Nov. 14, 1933. M, w. PROUTY 1,935,576

INNERSOLE FOR SHOES Filed Deo. 20, 1932 17711671 'Zo" /Vz/Za'izsh//Dfoaiy y @50 741169 e Patented Nov. 14, 1933 INNERSOLE FOR SHOES Millins W. AP'irouty, Braintree, Mass., assigner, b'y mesne assignments, to Certified Leathers, Inc., av corporation of Massachusetts Application December 20, 1932 SerialNo. 648,063 l to improvementsl in shoes. Y

More especially it relates to improvements in dealing with the innersole, sometimes called the insole; and it deals With the constructing of a finish, on this element which the makers of ne shoes have hitherto thought it necessary to cover and to conceal from View, because of the shoe industry not having hitherto discovered any practicable 'Way to impart -to it a satisfactory finish, at-a practicable cost.

The results are particularly useful with` respect to Womens shoes, in Whichv the having of a completely finished appearance in all parts of This invention relates the shoe is a necessary element for rendering the product marketable as a neshoe. Y The invention provides a finish, such that the innersole may be left exposed to view'in a iine shoe; may be open to access by any person to examine it in the shoe;l andmay even bearva certification asto kind or quality; and the invention provides other advantages which result in the making of a better shoe at lower cost.

In the construction of a shoe the innersole is the primary and central element to which the other parts of the shoe are secured; in the completed shoe it is a sort of backbone or spinal column, by which the shoe vis held together; and it also, because of proximity to the Wearersfoot, has important inuence upon comfort. A careful purchaser therefore needs reliable knowledge as to the material 'and characteristics of the in# sole. 1 l Y For many years it has been recognized that a proper material is Yfound in leather. Leather stock for innersoles has been developed to a high degree of strength and exibility; yet meantime the finish of insole stock has not attained 'an improvement in character Which ts it for exposure toviewinaneshoe. f

For the commercial marketing of a fine shoe the element of iinish is a very important reef ture of the shoe. In consequence, manufacturers build into their ne shoes surfaces, for `all visible parts of the shoe, in vvhich aesthetic'ap'peal vhas been developed to 'a high degree. For the bottom of the inside, good practice has hitherto included a sock lining, usually of kid, sheep skin, or other ver-y'thin leather, having a kind of surface which can be' given a finish, the purpose of Which sock lining isto cover and conceal the crude-appearing inners'ole. The introduction of asock lining `caus'esexpense for-fthe material, and also for-the labor involved.r in .its insertion;` Y and it adds nothing to the real value of the shoe as regards utility. In fact it detracts, since in a 'percentage of casesv it Works loose, becomes jury of the shoe industry. .Thefact that sock 65 linings are put into fine shoes is taken advantage of by some. manufacturers to substitute inferior materials for genuineleather innersoles, under a sock lining'. The"substitutes' are of' various sorts, some being in the nature'of paper; others 70 of vcotton lbreporyeven being sheets of Wood pulp having pores iilled with rubber, as to which Wearers nd vpractical `objection Vin addition to the inferiority oi strength'and'durability of the substituted material. Y n y The present invention renders a socklining unnecessary, by making it `v*commercially practicable for the,manufacturerrto. make his :finev shoes saleable, with the innersoleleftexposed toview. This is "accomplished byoonstructing a finish on the insolef'before it isl built into the shoe,by a treatment Whoseprimary'purpos'e :is realized only Whenrathat .sole is playing its part inthe interior aspect of the completed shoe. The insole, then exposed, .displays an, appearance. in 8,5 which the observer does not noticey the Ycharacteristic *crudity of appearance A`.of goodzinsole stock. Thereby,-because of thefaccessibility oi its insole for examination, a iine shoe becomes able to speak foritself as to its quality. x if'de'- `90 sired, the sole vcan be made literallyto speak for itself, certifyingin words as to the character of its material.r Butvvhether this Yceitiiication Abe made or not, the invention renders it unnecessary to introduce a sockelining.-y Thereby it v,ef-V fects in'manufacturing costs substantial saving, Which-may range from twoteV ten cents per.' pair, and vyet it renders the shoe marketabl'e'as a' ne shoe-and at a corresponding price',-.=a`ccording to its true merit.

The omissionof the sock lining affords a safeguard to the shoe purchaser, who otherwise'may. be misinformed vby anfover condent sales 'per-V son, oran unscrupulous one, because of .the .inability tovsee exactly what the sole is, when cov 105 ered by a cemented sock lining; Also, when a shoe isimade to sell at a'given price, the 'manufacturer,..by omitting thus .the sock lining, is

V`able to 'put in aabetterfquality of. insole.n I y.The diiculty which' has hitherto krendered it 110 necessary to conceal leather insoles does not arise from any lack of effort to finish them. Many attempts to, do that have been made; but the trouble lies with the peculiarity of leather itself, whose grain, or split surface under the grain, has a characteristic lack of uniformity which prevents it from acquiring the look of a perfect finish, such as kid and sheep skin may acquire. But the invention makes it possible to finish that very same leather surface so that it can be used with satisfaction. As an illustrative example, one may refer to flexible split leather. This is an economical material for innersoles, because it is made by removing a thin sheet of the grain portion of a side of leather, and the selling of this grain for other uses reduces the cost of the remainder, which remainder is suitable for insoles because it has the necessary fibre strength for withstanding stitching strain; is substantially stable as regards ability to stretch; and has a desirable flexibility which makes for comfort of the wearer, as does also its ability to absorb perspiration from the stocking.

In attaining its end, the invention may employ the usual exible split leather, finished as well as the tanners are accustomed to finish it, this finish, however, though it be the best that can be done, being nevertheless something which the shoe industry has hitherto regarded as not being adequate for the needs of a fine shoe. Seen under a microscope of adequate power this surface, if buffed, will present bushy masses of fibre, left with raw ends by the splitting of the leather; while if the surface has been finished by filling and polishing or jacking, the surface will have become sealy with edge cracks running in all directions and occasional pits and differences of shading; and in the case of grain leather the. surface is somewhat similarly sealy. Y

These peculiarities are not seen as such by the ordinary eye, but they are mentioned as being among the causes which possibly contribute to the undoubted characteristic of crudeness of aspect which the best of insoles, of commercial grade has, when built into a shoe and lying beside the exquisite finishes which exist in all other parts of the shoe. Another element, contributing to the somewhat mottled aspect, may be the difference of direction in which adjacent Whorls of l fibres lie at the surface of the leather.y

The invention deals with this surface by superimposing thereon scattered lines or marks which are prominent enough to engage the attention of a beholders eye and to throw into inconspicuous f background those irregularities which formerly characterized the whole surface of the leather. It will be understood that the differences between various portions of the insole leather, as heretofore made, and as described above, are really slight, when considered in an absolute sense, although they are enoughrto produce the visual effect of relative crudity as above expressed, and it is that Vcrudity which engages the eye and commands the attention of the observer. But when ones eye is engaged by the said scattered lines, or marks, and the attention is preempted by them, the slight differences between adjacent portions of the leather surface do not catch the attention,-in fact it becomes hard to fix the atten-v tion upon them so as to perceive them,-and a general impression of uniformity of the background is the predominant characteristic which comes to the eye, from that part ofthe picture on which the attention is not now focused.

It is desirableD that the, superimposed marks be impressed in some sort of a pattern, covering the whole of the surface in the sense that an openwork pattern covers the whole of a certain area while in fact leaving uncovered large portions of the area. The marks may preferably be no different in color from the surface itself, being merely such a slight darkening of it as can be made by impression of a heated roller sufficient to make depressed lines and marks without scorching them black. This gives a two-toned effect on the face of the insole, in which the true leather color is preserved. The benefits of the invention may be had however, provided ones artistic sense is at the same time satisfied, Where the lines are more pronouncedly in contrast with the leather surface. Moreover, there is some advantage in changing the leather surface from its natural leather color, as for example changing it to a blue, a step to be executed in the tanning process by any suitable method.

In the accompanying drawing the representation of a surface of the innersole is lined with the conventional representation of blue for two reasons, one being in order that the coloring of it differing from the natural leather color may be shown as this is an advantageous feature which may be employed if desired; and the other being to modify the sharpness of contrast (black and white) which, under the rules for making patent drawings, would strike the eye of the person looking at the drawing, because such a sharpness of contrast will not ordinarily be a desirable feature, and the close ruling of the background lines rep-` resenting the leather surface makes this contrast less pronounced between the various parts of the completed insole. No attempt is made in the drawing to portray the finish of the other'parts of the shoe which, however, will not have such sharp contrasts asv the drawing indicates, but

Will be as shoes are ordinarily made.

The superimposing of these marks on the background, which consists of the finished surface of innersole leather as heretofore finished, may be done when the side of leather is still whole; or it may be applied to the whole of the innersole which has been cut therefrom. Each is a convenient and economical way of making `the impression by an engraved roller or by such other means as are to be employed.

It is sufficient that the lines thus impressed be very narrow, for example, having a width of the order of one one-hundredth of an inch; and that the impression be very shallow, barely enough for its edges to cast a shadow, for which not much more than a microscopic depth of impression is needed, a narrow trench clearly felt, or enough to be sensed by ones finger nail, but not appreciably felt by the sole of ones foot.

The essential characteristic of the impression to be made on the face of the innersole is not that it should be a pattern of aesthetic value, although of course it would be natural that one should select an attractive design. But the success of the invention depends rather on the breaking up of the microscopically ragged fibrous surface of the leather, or the scaly grain surface, orlled surface, of the leather, with areas varying slightly from each other in shade of color, by the introduction of smooth areas or lines of microscopic depth which naturally draw ones eye and attention away from the adjacent unaltered parts of the surface; and which, having in themselves aA quality of uniformity, irnpart the impression of uniformity to the entirety of the surface over which, they are spread. Their appears tothe eye from this patent drawing in smoothness of impression, or of color,'or ofunity of design even though-not uniform in the above respects. f WUnder these conditions the pattern in which themarksorlines are arranged is of interest only in an artistic sense, as the purpose of the invention is attained by the presence of the attention-compelling marks. -Therefore any of an infinite number of patterns may be employed. Among such may be patterns which contain intelligible Words, for such can equally produce the described effect of making a surface which appears finished.

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed. It will be observed that while the invention is particularly useful in the manufacture of all leather innersoles and in the marketing of shoes containing them, and in saving the very substantial cost of sock lining, it can, nevertheless, be applied with like effect to innersoles made of varieties of leather other than that particularly above described, or indeed with any material other than leather in cases where that may be found useful.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a shoe embodying the invention in which a portion is broken away to a section on a medial longitudinal line of the shoe; and

Figure 2 is a plan of the same, showing the exposed top face of the innersole.

In the drawing a welt type of shoe 10 is illustrated, but the invention may be found useful 'esi as applied to any type of shoe, the interior face of whose sole does not require to be covered for other causes, such as Visible or tangible stitching or nailing. y

In the drawing, the combination of the innersole 12, upper 14 and welt 16 is stitched together in a usual way as at 18, ,and the outersole 20 is stitched to the Welt as at 21. If the shoe be of other type, as a cemented type, the invention may be applied without requiring change in the regulation of securing its parts together.

In this combination, however, the innersole 12 has not the crude aspect with which the industry has beenfamiliar hitherto, which has required that asock lining be introduced to hide the innersole; but the innersole, before being incorporated in the combination, is vsubjected tor the new process which adapts it to perform its new function in the interior of the shoe where it is to be exposed and clearly visible.

In this process a coloring step may play a part, especially in the case of split leather, to make the surface Lof innersole, which is to be interiorly exposed, be in harmony with the color of the shoe lining and/or the exterior of the shoe upper; and I'have found that a tinting of the innersole, which may bedone in the process of tanning,'by treating the side of leather before the innersoles are cut from it, has'al definitely usefuleffect in killing the raw aspect of split leather. In the drawing, such a tinting is represented by the ruling of the face of the innersole with lines to representconventionally the color blue, 'which I have found especially successful. But whether tinted or not the innersole I may be impressed with lines 22 of an openwork pattern, asabove described, which of itself makes no change in the colorandwhich does not make the surfacev nearly sovpronounced in contrast as black and white,l but effects a focus' of the eyes involuntarily upon the area of each little mark. Inasmuchas the 'pre-treated' innersole, of this rcombination of insole, outsole,`upper, and lining, does not need to be covered, thecustomary socklining vmay be omitted, with incidental' saving of a substantial amount in each pair of shoes; and as this special treatmentof the innersoles has increased their cost but slightly, the net saving effected by the elimination of the sock lining is a substantial sum, and at the same time the shoe as a whole is better. And the shoe thus made includes the important element that the retailer in buying his stock, and the retail purchaser examining a shoe that looks like a fine shoe, can see and be satisfied as to the material of the innersole. Beyond this, if words be incorporated in the pattern impressed, the fully exposed innersole, for the benefit of purchasers who are not expert in fibrous materials, may inoffensively bear its own guarantee as to its material.

Of course the pattern is not necessarily applied inthe preferred manner herein described, but may be put on in other ways, to obtain an effect of the same kind. Y y

In the drawing the marks superimposed on the insole are represented as lines at 22 having parallel continuity; as block areas 24,'as in parts of the conventionalized blueberry andA leaf, and in short vari-directional lines as in the letters 26 of the words which are visible stating the nature of the material of the innersole. These lines, if impressed with pressure of a heated engraved die roller may preferably be so shallow that they would not show in the sectional drawing of the innersole' 12 in Figure 1; and the same would be true if the lines were made by deposit lof a foreign material, as ink, on the surface of the innersole 12. In each case, the effect of the mark, either by shadow or by difference of aspect of applied material, even though the difference or shadow be but'slight, is to give a fibre-freel aspect to the small bit of the ,sole which is covered by the mark, and to con-.

tinue that aspect with an effect of uniformity over the whole region over which the marks are spread, with the involuntary action of ones eye resting upon this rather than the unaffected surface of the leather,

I claim: 1. A shoe, having an outer sole, an upper'an a finish lining, combined with an innersole, vin

which shoe the upper surface of-,said innersole is exposed tonview as an interior face of the shoe, the material of the said innersole being 'Y l has a finished aspect notwithstanding the said natural aspect of its material. y

2. A s hoe, having an outersole, an upper and a finish lining, combined with an innersole, in

which shoe the upper surface of the said inner sole is exposed to View as Aan interiorA face of the shoe, the material of thesaid innersole being of a variety whose natural aspect lacks refine- 14o l e v ment; the said exposed .innersole surface being y substantially freefrom lesion and having marks' spread over the surface thereof as a pattern thereon, and being a legible indication with revisibly impressed thereon, said marks being,

lgard to the material of the innersole, whereby vthe exposed innersole surfacev as a whole has a `nishecl aspect, notwithstanding the said natural aspect of the material of the innersole.

3. As a new article of manufacture, innersole material for a shoe, made of split leather, hav- -ing its split surface substantially free from lesion 

